Stuck
by Cardcaptorghost
Summary: Post-Endgame. Spoilers.  Steve returns the stones to the correct point in time but gets stuck in the past.
1. Chapter 1

SUMMARY - Steve returns the stones to the correct point in time but gets stuck in the past.

* * *

Bucky watched as Steve stood up on the platform, the case containing the infinity stones in one hand with Mjolnir in the other. Bucky's heart was pounding in his chest at the thought that he would never see his Steve again. Bucky knew that Steve was going to stay in the past and live the life he had always wanted with Peggy. Bucky's feelings didn't matter because Steve would get his happily ever after. Bruce fired up the time machine and Steve disappeared.

"How long will it take until he is back?" Sam asked, Bucky silently wished that he had Sam ignorance towards Steve's true intent.

"It can be hours for him but it will be about 5 seconds for us" Bruce answered. It felt like years had past as Bruce counted down from five.

"Bringing him back now" Bruce said but Steve didn't appear just as Bucky predicted, Steve decided to stay with Peggy. Bucky looked down at the floor as Sam and Bruce started panicking. He didn't want them to watch as his heart shattered into pieces.

* * *

Steve fell to the ground as he landed in 2012, the fight between the avengers and Loki was still ranging on. There were only two stones left which he had to return, the mind and time stone. Steve wouldn't lie when he had been tempted to stay with Peggy, but he knew she had moved on from him, she was engaged to marry her husband and even though Steve wanted to experience a life with Peggy he knew he could not affect the time line. If Peggy's future Alzheimer's affected her in a way which would reveal that Steve was her husband to his past self then it could change the timeline and the events Steve, and the other avengers worked so hard to change would be for nothing.

It wasn't hard quickly putting Loki's sceptre back into hydra's hands much to Steve distaste. The last thing he wanted to do was assist hydra to become powerful after everything they did to Wanda, Pietro and Bucky. Steve quickly snuck back out of Stark tower and headed towards the New York Sanctum Sanctorum to return the final stone. Steve ensured that this stone was the last one to be returned just in case something happened to the timeline which Steve would need to correct.

"Mr Rogers, I have been expecting you" the ancient one spoke.

"I am here to return the time stone" Steve replied before opening the briefcase once more.

"I am grateful however; your work can't end here. You took the stones and changed the timeline. For meddling with the timeline, you must in tern protect it. It is your duty from this point forward to ensure that each stone travels down it's expected path" the ancient one spoke. Steve's eyes widened, Bruce never said anything about having to protect the timeline, but it made sense. To protect his future, he must protect the past.

"How will I do this?" Steve asked reluctantly.

"I will train you will the powers of the mystic arts and using the time stone its powers will be fused into your being just like Carol Danvers with the space stone" the ancient one answered. Steve closed his eyes he wanted to return home and live the rest of his life with his weird family, but he knew this had to be done. For them, Steve opened his eyes which were filled with determination.

"When do we start?" Steve asked.

"Right now" the ancient one replied. Steve nodded his head before walking into the sanctum. Towards his new life. A silent promise left in his place. He will return to his family even if it takes one hundred years, he will return.


	2. Chapter 2

"Steve" the ancient one said as she walked over to the super soldier. Steve had been living in the past for three years now flittering throughout time ensuring that the stones followed their destined path.

"Yes, what stone do I have to go to next?" Steve asked, he had gotten use to the routine.

"Captain Marvel or Carol Danvers was created through a Kree called Mar-Vell getting her hands on the tesseract whilst creating a light-speed engine to save another alien race called the Skrulls from the afford mentioned Kree. You must make sure that Mar-Vell who is hiding under the alias of Wendy Lawson gets her hand on the Tesseract. Lawson dies in 1989 and has been working on the light-speed engine for three years previously. I do not know for sure when Lawson gets her hands on the Tesseract, but it can only be rumoured that she received it early 1986" the ancient one explained, Steve sighed he was getting tired of running after these stones and he had still yet to reach the 21st century yet.

"Make sure Mar-Vell gets the Tesseract, got it" Steve replied before closing his eyes and pictured the place and year he needed to be in. A light green aura appeared around the outline of Steve then he disappeared. Steve kept his eyes closed as he travelled through the space time continuum. It was nothing like the quantum realm which was bright and full of colour, the space time continuum was just the darkness. It was void of life.

Steve felt the ground underneath his feet reappear, his senses were overloaded with noise and smells. Steve slowly opened his eyes. He was standing in an air force base which was mostly empty, the sun was barely up. Steve was wearing a pilot's uniform; his blond hair was glamoured black along with his blue eyes which were now brown. When interfering with the stones timeline he was going to be meeting people from his future. This meant he would need to be disguised to prevent him being recognised in the future.

Steve rubbed a hand through his hair before heading towards the area where the Tesseract was being kept. After learning how to use the mystic arts, the ancient one followed through with her idea and the time stones powers were fused to Steve's being. This allowed him to track an infinity stone when he was in close range to it.

"You can't have the tesseract, Shield has plans for it. They would never let someone just take it Lawson. You must understand this" Steve heard Howard speak to Mar-Vell. Steve quickly hid behind a large filing cabinet watching.

"My light-speed engine could stop wars, I just need a few hours with it to see whether it would work. You don't need to tell Shield that I looked at it" Mar-Vell argued, Steve could tell the woman was desperate and he could understand why, the survival of a whole race was at stake.

"No means no Ms Lawson" Howard snapped before storming off whilst pulling Lawson with him. Obviously not trusting the woman to not steal the tesseract if she was left alone. Steve watched as Howard and Mar-Vell disappeared, he knew what he had to do. Steve walked over to the unit where the tesseract was being kept before grabbing a briefcase which was lying around. He smashed open the unit's door instantly setting off the alarms giving Mar-Vell an alibi from stealing the tesseract. He pulled the tesseract out and shoved it into the case before running out of the facility.

"Ms Lawson" Steve shouted as he ran over to the Kree scientist.

"Can I help you?" Lawson said trying to hide the obvious annoyance in her voice.

"I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I overheard your argument with Mr Stark and I think you are right, I'm not a scientist but I know the basic understanding towards the efficiency of a light-speed engine would be. If you keep this between us then you can have this" Steve said, he saw Mar-Vell's face morph into confusion, but Steve just smiled before opening the briefcase to reveal the tesseract. Mar-Vell's eyes widened in shock as she looked at the tesseract then she quickly closed the case hiding the tesseract from sight.

"You could get into trouble for this" Mar-Vell stated but Steve shrugged.

"What's a little trouble if it saves a species" Steve winked before handing the case to Mar-Vell. He saw the surprised look on her face, he could tell she wanted to ask questions to how he knew.

"Goodbye Mar-Vell and good luck" was all Steve said before he turned away from the scientist and ran off. Once he was out of sight, Steve simply closed his eyes and disappeared from the time period.

"Mission complete" Steve instantly informed the ancient one once he returned before heading towards his room in the sanctum. These last three years has been draining, he wondered what the other avengers would think if they knew he was becoming the cause of all their missions. In the end, he would guide Thanos towards gaining all the infinity stones and killing half the universe. After all he was the reason to why the Red Skull gained the tesseract in the first place. He was the reason behind Erskine's death.

_Steve landed back in 1942, he was wearing a Nazi uniform, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He had recently gain control over the ability to glamour himself whilst in the past to prevent running into anyone who his past-self would meet. He was currently stood in the hydra base where the Red Skull was, he was currently looking for the tesseract. Steve's mission was to reveal the lead to where the tesseract is being hidden. _

_"Sir" Steve spoke in German to the disguised Red Skull before continuing "I have discovered a lead to where the tesseract has been hidden". _

_"How sure are you with this lead soldier?" The Red Skull questioned turning to face Steve. _

_"Very sure Sir, it is kept in a church in Tønsberg Norway, I am not sure where in the church it is being kept but the church is known as Odin's vault and if your ideas about Norse mythology is true then it would be the ideal place to hide such a powerful object" Steve explained his fluent German never breaking. He was getting to use to lying. _

_"Well done soldier, you are dismissed" Red Skull said before turning his back on Steve, the urge to run up to the Red Skull and kill him was strong but Steve resisted. The ancient one had shown him the repercussions if he tried to change the past. Steve exited the room and returned to his future to find the ancient one standing in his room. _

_"You must head to the past; Red Skull has gained the tesseract, but Erskine is still alive. This has a catastrophic influence on the future, if he does not die then the world will be overrun with super soldiers and hydra will continue. You must take Erskine out to prevent this happening" The ancient one spoke; Steve's eyes widen in horror. _

_"You want me to kill Erskine" Steve exclaimed. _

_"Steve, you always killed Erskine. You were just disguised as Heinz Kruger. Take this capsule it will make it look like a suicide by a cyanide pill. After your body is taken away you can come back. Steve you must do this. If you don't Bucky's outcome is much worse then what originally happened" The ancient one said. Steve had to close his eyes before taking a deep breath. Once his heart had calmed down Steve opened his eyes before taking the gun from the ancient one. _

_"Good luck Steve" the ancient one said as Steve disappeared, a pained look on his face. Steve knew he was disguised as Kruger the second he appeared in 1943. Steve watched as his past-self stepped inside Vita—Ray Chamber, the procedure started, and Steve couldn't help himself but watch in awe. He felt weird watching the procedure he experienced from an observer's perspective. The procedure ended revealing the new super soldier, Steve didn't wait any longer before he pulled the gun from his pocket quickly throwing some explosives then fired two shots at Erskine which hit him. Steve grabbed the serum to prevent it being used in the future and bolted. He heard the thundering footsteps of his past-self. _

_Steve jumped in the nearest taxi, remembering clearly how the events played out the first time around. Steve watched himself push Peggy out of the way before jumping on top of the taxi. Steve started shooting the roof trying to dislodge himself from the top. His past-self fell off when Steve accidentally crashed the taxi. Steve climbed out the taxi and took off running towards the docks where he knew a hydra submarine which he would 'fail' to escape in was currently stationed. Steve continued to shoot at his past-self until he ran out of bullets. Steve didn't have the time to be disgusted by his actions when he took a young child hostage. _

_Steve quickly threw the boy into the docks instantly distracting his past-self long enough to climb inside the submarine and start the engine, but he soon watched as past-Steve came into view and started punching the glass which forced Steve outside and back to the surface. Once out of the water Steve quickly broke the serum. _

_"Hail Hydra" Steve spat out, the words feeling vile coming from his mouth as he bit into the fake cyanide capsule. Soon he felt his conscious fading, he guessed it was the pill quickly getting to work. When Steve woke up he was lying on a metal table in a cold empty room, Steve guessed they took his body and dumped it in the morgue for later. Steve didn't wait to discover what would be the next step, he walked over to one of the morgues draws and pulled out a dead body and laid it in his place. He used the mystic arts he had been trained in and started reciting an explosive spell. It would look like Hydra trying to cover their tracks. Steve left before the body exploded. _

_Steve floated in the space time continuum for an hour before deciding where he wanted to go. He knew that the ancient one was going to criticize him once he returned that what he did was a sign of his weakness. Steve felt the world materialise around him one more. _

_"Hey buddy I thought you were with Philips" Steve heard a familiar voice, he opened his eyes and turned to face Bucky. His Bucky. The Bucky before The Winter Soldier. _

_"Yeah I am just taking a break for a bit" Steve answered before following Bucky to their tent. The pair shared one during the war, it reminded them both of home a little. The apartment they shared where they had to squish into one bed to sleep at night because they couldn't afford another one, it was lucky back then that Steve was smaller, or they wouldn't have fitted on the bed. _

_"Bucky. Do you think I am worthy of this role?" Steve asked his best friend as he lay on his cot. Bucky who has laid down on his own cot looked over at Steve with a puzzled expression on his face. _

_"No one is worthier of this role Stevie" Bucky said sitting up and walking over to Steve. Steve lifted his head allowing Bucky to sit down before lying his head on Bucky's lap. Bucky gently stroked a hand through Steve's hair as the pair stayed silent. Steve wanted to enjoy his limited time with Bucky, he had no idea when he would see Bucky again, the ancient one never told him how long it would take but Steve secretly knew it would take a while. _

_"I better head back to Philips before he has my head. I'm sorry for being all weird on you" Steve said reluctantly before standing up and straightening his hair. _

_"It's alright Pal" Bucky replied, Steve smiled down at Bucky before turning and walking out. Past-Steve wouldn't return for a few more hours and Bucky never got the chance to speak with Steve after all Bucky falls off the train tomorrow. Steve fought every instinct to prevent the fall, but he quickly squished them down before focusing on his destination and disappearing. _

"Steve, you need to ensure Shield get their hands on the tesseract" the ancient one said as she entered his room which pulled Steve from his memories. Steve internally groaned before lifting his head to look at her.

"When Captain Marvel returned to earth six years after the explosion she discovered her past and working with Nick Fury she discovered the horrors of the Kree and swore to help the Skrulls. The Kree's StarForce unit came after her and tried to get the tesseract. The tesseract was swallowed by Goose a flerken. The flerken is being kept by Nick Fury in his office in Shield. All you need to do is get into that office and make the flerken sick up the tesseract" the ancient one explained. Steve dropped his head back to his pillow.

"You want me to make a flerken sick up the tesseract… great" Steve groaned before closing his eyes and pictured Nick Fury's office in 1995.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve flopped down onto his bed. He was out as soon as his head hit his pillow. The last mission had been tiring. Steve had been stuck here for now ten years and he had finally reached the 21st century on his missions yet he still had so much still to do before he could return home. For some reason the Ancient One decided that he had to protect the stones which was were in space much to Steve distaste. There were multiple times he had to visit Vormir and Morag to prevent others from getting a hold of the power or soul stone. The amount of lives he had taken would rival the Winter Soldier's kill count.

His last mission had lasted longer than he expected. Thanos need to get hold of Loki to ensure that the Battle of New York would happen however, Thanos didn't get Loki which meant Steve was dispatched to convince Thanos of Loki's importance to his mission. Steve however was not sure how he was going to convince Thanos of Steve's own importance.

_Steve appeared on the recent planet that Thanos had decimated. The Mind Stone was being kept hidden, but Steve knew that Thanos would need to gain the Mind Stone to use in the sceptre to Loki. Steve attacked the guards protecting the mind stone, they tried to stop Steve from entering but Steve had the upper-hand due to the Super Soldier Serum. He quickly defeated the guards before opening the stone doors to the crypt. Steve cautiously headed towards the stone pillar to prevent any booby traps going off. Steve saw the stone laying in a black box in the centre of the stone pillar. He quickly grabbed it before darting back out. Now he needed to find Thanos. _

_Locating the giant titan wasn't hard. He stood in the centre of all the chaos. _

_"Locate the mind stone" Thanos said to his adoptive children. _

_"As you wish Sire" Ebony Maw said but before anyone could leave, Steve walked over to Thanos the box containing the mind stone in hand. _

_"Lord Thanos" Steve started before kneeling and opening the box revealing the stone. "I have heard of your courageous battles and your mission to balance the world. I saw your vision in lives of my race and I understood that we cannot win against extinction without drastic measures. When I heard you were coming to my planet I knew I had to get the Mind Stone for you to show my support for your destiny" Steve lied. _

_"My child stand" Thanos ordered and Steve obeyed, this was the only way Steve would be able to gain Thanos' trust. _

_"I am pleased that someone shares my vision. As reward of your courage I want you to aid me in my search for the stones. You shall become my child. What is your name?" Thanos asked. _

_"I do not have a name. A true name. I have no family. No heritage. For the last few years people have called me Barnes" Steve answered, there was some truth behind that statement the only person he had left which felt like true family was Bucky. Even though the Avengers were his family now. The Barnes were the only people who he would class as his proper family. They had taken him in and looked after him after his mother died, they had treated him like family. _

_"From this moment you will be reborn as Normad Barnes, a child of Thanos" Thanos stated as he rests a large hand on Steve's back and guided Steve towards his ship but not before ordering the black order to kill half of the planet's population. _

_Steve spent the next year proving himself to Thanos. He went on missions with Gamora and Nebula. His blonde hair which was glamoured red was currently shoulder length. He was slowly becoming more like Bucky in a way, long hair and cybernetic components. During a mission Steve was attacked from behind and his eyes were ripped out, Thanos replaced them with cybernetic ones. His time at Thanos side was dwindling and Steve couldn't wait to return to the ancient one. _

_"Father" Steve said as he entered Thanos' throne room, the giant titan was sat on his chair. _

_"Normad" Thanos greeted when Steve reached the titan and bowed. _

_"I have come baring news" Steve said before continuing "I have located the Space Stone, it is currently on Earth with a governmental intelligence agency called SHEILD. They seem to be trying to weaponise the stone. I have an idea, it might not be the greatest of ideas Father, but I think it might be the easiest way to gain the tesseract". _

_"What is your idea my child?" Thanos asked._

_"It would be best to keep your forces aware from this primitive planet and instead send an associate to retrieve the tesseract after recent events this SHEILD group is aware of alien presence and have worked to protect themselves from us. However, Asgard is in ruins after the attack between the princes Loki and Thor. They have no Bifrost, so they would not be able to get to earth and protect it. Loki hates earth and has a strong ideal to rule. Using him he could get the tesseract from earth in the process of destroying all weapons which were made to destroy us making the planet defenceless. Win a primitive planet for Loki and in exchange gives you the tesseract" Steve explained his plan. Thanos didn't reply for a few moments. _

_"Where is this Loki now?" Thanos questioned._

_"Floating through space, I can take my ship and get Loki then bring him back and you can show him your ways" Steve replied. _

_"Take your ship, get this Loki individual" Thanos ordered, Steve internally smiled at his success. _

_"I will not fail you father" Steve answered leaving the Throne room and headed toward his ship which was kept in cargo. Steve ordered Thanos' followers to open the hatch once Steve had started up his ship. The hatch opened, and Steve flew out into to space towards Asgard. Loki was unconscious when Steve found him. However, he was still alive. Steve kept Loki unconscious as he headed back to Thanos to prevent Loki trying to escape the ship. _

_Thanos was pleased with Steve's success and as soon as Loki awoke, the torturing began. Steve kept far away, he knew it wouldn't take long for Loki to break and Steve was right a month into the torture Loki agreed to Thanos' plan. Another year past and Loki were ready, sceptre in hand which carried the mind stone. Steve entered the throne room once more. _

_"Is everything ready my child?" Thanos asked once his eyes landed of Steve. _

_"Yes father, I will take Loki to the point where he can access the Tesseract's power once that has happened, I want to set out on my personal mission" Steve answered. _

_"What is that my child?" Thanos questioned. _

_"I will find the infinity stones you seek. You will have two soon but there are still four more to find. I want to make it my mission to locate these stones for you father" Steve answered. The truth was he felt that if he stayed with Thanos any longer he would be brainwashed into actually believing in his plan like the other children of Thanos were. _

_"You may Normad Barnes. I wish you well in you mission" Thanos said giving Steve his blessing, relief washed over Steve as he knelled. _

_"I will not fail you father" Steve answered before exiting the Throne room and headed towards his ship where Loki was already waiting. The ride to Earth was a quite one. Once they were in range Steve activated the machine which would use the tesseract to open a portal to its location. _

_"You shall no fail my father, if you do, he will find you and you will experience something worse than death" Steve said glaring at Loki. Loki nodded his head weakly before disappearing. Steve didn't wait any longer before disactivating the machine and disappearing from this time along with his ship. _


	4. Chapter 4

***Smut in Chapter* **

Steve groaned when he opened his eyes, he couldn't fully believe he had finally left Thanos behind, but Steve knew he couldn't escape Thanos for long. Eventually he would return to tell him where the power stone was being kept then the rest of the infinity stones.

"How long have you been gone this time?" the ancient one asked when Steve went down for dinner.

"Two years" Steve answered taking a seat beside her. The ancient one signalled to be left alone and the other masters of the mystic arts took their food and headed back to their rooms.

"Tell me what happened" the ancient one asked.

"I thought you kept an eye on me when I am in the past" Steve retaliated.

"Not always, I have other things to being doing then keeping a constant watch over you" the ancient one answered.

"I meet Thanos became one of his children when I presented the mind stone to him, I proved myself to him, lost my eyes during one of the battles. Was given cybernetic ones in their place. Ensured the battle of New York happened through locating Loki. I was given Thanos' permission to go looking for the other infinity stones. I got out of there as quickly as I could" Steve explained.

"What name did you go by?" The Ancient One asked.

"Normad Barnes" Steve answered as he finished eating.

"What is your plan now?" The Ancient One questioned, Steve internally groaned he hated how she always wanted to know every detail. He understood that she was trying to preserve the timeline but sometimes what she wanted to know seem irrelevant.

"Right now, I'm going to a bar" Steve answered before exiting the room.

* * *

Steve couldn't believe what he was doing. He was sat on a bar stool in 1939 at a gay bar. Steve was currently half glamoured his eyes and hair were their normal colours, Steve hadn't found the time or heart to cut his long shoulder-length hair, it was like it was a part of who he was, however, because he was in the past he had glamour what his face looked like. Steve could remember how police would storm the place looking for proof of 'illegal' homosexuality. Steve had always hated how people would try to 'correct' those who were gay because they believed it was an illness, but it wasn't Steve would have had his gayness corrected when he had the serum.

"Hey handsome, can I buy you another drink" a familiar voice said from behind him. Steve's heart lurched as he turned around to face Bucky. Bucky before the war. He was wearing one of his favourite suits which was navy.

"Well I would never refuse a free drink" Steve answered throwing up his best smile.

"What's your name handsome?" Bucky asked as he ordered the drinks.

"Steve" Steve answered before internally punching himself for slipping up.

"Steve huh… my name is James" Bucky introduced himself. Steve knew how much Bucky hated the name James, but he was probably going by it to prevent anyone finding him since Bucky was such an unusual name. Steve and Bucky spoke for around an hour, Bucky's hand was resting on Steve's thigh. The pair were incredibly close that if Steve moved a little to the right he could kiss Bucky.

"How about I take you home and show you a good time?" Bucky suggested. It threw Steve for a second, but this was what he had always wanted.

"I thought you would never ask" Steve answered before he downed the rest of his drink then followed Bucky out the bar. If Steve remembered correctly their old apartment wasn't far away from the gay bar.

***Start of Smut***

Steve and Bucky stripped out of their clothes quickly once they had reached the bedroom. Steve wrapped his arms around Bucky's neck crashing their lips together as they stumbled towards the bed. Steve lay on his back, his legs spread as Bucky slipped a finger inside his hole. Steve moaned into Bucky's mouth as Bucky soon added a second finger then a third.

"James, I need you inside me" Steve begged as Bucky continued to thrust three fingers into his hole.

"You sure" Bucky asked a little worried.

"Positive" Steve answered, Bucky seemed to think for a second before pulling his fingers out of Steve and lined his dick up with Steve's hole. Steve moaned out of pleasure when he felt Bucky push inside stretching him wide whilst Bucky moaned out of Steve tightness. Once Bucky was fully inside of Steve he stopped to allow Steve time to adjust to his size.

"You can move" Steve said not long after. Bucky pressed his lips against Steve's once more before pulling out and thrusting back in. Steve dug his fingers into Bucky's back as he felt his best friend's dick brush against his prostate, with each thrust Bucky, increased with speed whilst Steve unconsciously spread his legs even wider, so Bucky could have more access to his hole.

"Fuck, I'm going to come soon" Steve moaned out when Bucky took Steve's dick in his hand.

"Then come for me Doll" Bucky growled into Steve's ear. Steve came with a cry and he came over Bucky's hand. A few more thrusts Bucky came inside Steve filling his hole up. Bucky carefully pulled out of Steve then collapsed beside him.

***End of Smut***

"I better go before your boyfriend finds us" Steve said climbing out of bed and started getting dressed.

"My boyfriend?" Bucky questioned looking at Steve confused.

"Him" Steve simply answered pointing towards the picture of himself before the serum with Bucky, they were at Coney Island.

"Oh, that's my roommate and best friend Steve Rogers. He's not my boyfriend. He doesn't see me like that. He doesn't even know I like guys. He doesn't know I like him in that way. Steve's straight. If you knew him, you would know that he is straight" Bucky answered. Steve had to keep himself from sighing. Bucky and he had been annoyingly obvious of their feelings for each other back then yet neither of them could work it out how the other truly felt.

"Well so is spaghetti until it is heated up" Steve replied, confusion dawned on Bucky's face one more at the modern reference.

"What?" Bucky said.

"Oh, nothing anyway I better go before he turns up and you accidentally out yourself" Steve said once he had finished dressing. Steve took one last look at Bucky who had started dressing as well, Steve knew this was going to have to be his last encounter with Bucky until he can finally return to his timeline and confess his feelings. Steve left his old apartment and disappeared from the timeline when he saw his younger self start climbing the stairs. When Steve came to in the New York Sanctum he saw the disapproving look from the Ancient One.

"You have to understand, it has been nearly 11 years and I miss him so much. It is like I have lost a limb" Steve said trying to defend himself. The ancient one didn't say anything instead she walked out of his room. Steve sighed before flopping on to his bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Steve wanted to scream and cry. It had been twenty long years and he was still no further forward to returning to his time. To Bucky. It felt every time he took one step forward he would take two steps backwards because of an aberration in the past. Steve had enough of going back to the Roman Era and nearly getting killed in some shape or form because he has been marked as an enemy of the Roman Empire by Emperor Nero.

* * *

Steve was in London; the year was 2013. Today Jane Foster was to become the host of the reality stone which would cause the war between Thor and the Dark Elves. Jane was watching as the children showed her and other two the mysterious gravitational changes caused by the approaching convergence. Steve watched from afar as Jane walked away from the group. The equipment in her hand was beeping erratically as she got closer towards the tear between Earth and the hidden pocket dimension. Steve could feel the portal slowly closing but Jane wasn't getting any closer to it. Steve sighed before using his powers to shove the reluctant woman through.

"I'm doing this to save the world" he whispered in an attempt to reassure himself of what he was doing. His mission was far from finished yet. He had to point Peter Quill in the direction of the Power Stone and then return to him. Quill first, Steve decided before vanishing.

* * *

"Where the fuck am I going to find a silver orb?" Peter Quill complained once he left The Broker's shop.

"On Morag no less" Steve said causing the half human to jump.

"And you are?" Quill asked.

"No one important, you are on a quest to locate a silver orb. Morag has one containing immense power. Maybe that is the orb which you seek" Steve replied. Quill took a moment to think, the broker hadn't given much information to the location of the orb however, this man could be right. The Broker normally wanted unique objects for his clients.

"Yeah, tha…" Quill said but trailed off. The mysterious man was gone.

* * *

Thanos was on the battlefield when he saw his son appear. He had expected Normad Barnes to return soon with the location of the infinity stones. He had been gone for two years since the failed mission to gain the tesseract from Earth.

"Do you bring me good news?" Thanos questioned.

"I have located the power stone it is on a planet called Morag" Steve answered.

"And of the other infinity stones?" Thanos demanded, Normad has left two years ago which must have been enough time to locate more stones then just the power.

"Speculations, I took me longer than I expected to find one infinity stone. They have been hidden well Father. I will return to the search immediately. I will not fail you father" Steve bowed before standing once again.

"You better not. I lost both the space and mind stone after the stunt Loki pulled. Locate the trickster he must be punished for failure" Thanos ordered.

"Yes Father" Steve replied before walking off. He wanted to get as far away from Thanos as quickly as he could. One more mission left until he could return to the New York Sanctum. Steve sat cloaked as Tony analysed the sceptre, the team had recently return from Strucker's HYDRA base with the sceptre in hand. Tony had yet consulted Bruce about Ultron, but Steve knew to ensure that Ultron was created so later on Vision would be born. Steve implanted the idea of using the sceptre to create Ultron. He only left when he saw Tony start working on the idea.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you Tony" Steve whispered before disappearing.

Once Steve returned to his own time again he started making plans on what he wanted to do before he truly returned home. He had to bring his ship with him because after everything he has seen in space why the hell should he be stuck to one world. He could take Bucky out to the stars.

"Steve return to Roman empire immediately Nero has his hands on the Tesseract. You need to transport it to Odin's vault" The Ancient one said as she entered his room. Steve groaned. He really hated Rome.


	6. Chapter 6

Steve watched from afar as Bucky placed himself into the Cryo-chamber and was frozen. The medical staff, T'Challa and his past-self exited the room allowing Steve to enter. He walked over to the unconscious body of the man he loved. It was only 2016 and he knew that his journey would still take years until he can be reunited with Bucky. His Bucky.

"Hey Buck, long time no see. For me at least it's has been about 25 years since I last saw you. Well saw the version of you that was brought back after Thanos. I hoped that my mission would simply be return the stones and come home, come back to you but you know how time is. Everything comes with a price, I had to stay behind to ensure that the stones were on the correct path. Everything that happened which related to the stones was because of me. HYDRA, Jane, Thanos. It will always lead to me. I probably have a kill count which surpasses the Winter Soldier and that just being away. I miss you Bucky. God, I wish I could come back and explain everything to you, but I can't. The Ancient One explained that it could meddle with time even more and I can't have that happen. No matter how much I want to be in your arms again just like when I was smaller. I love you Bucky. I hope you know that. I hope you in the future wouldn't believe that I stayed in the past to be with Peggy. I can't lie to you Bucky, I was tempted but I discovered over these last 25 years. I might have loved Peggy in the past, but I now love her like a little sister. It's not like I how I love you. I will always choose you, no matter what. You're everything to me Bucky. I can hear someone coming back, probably going to remove the conditioning from you head and they will. I promise. See you soon Bucky. Remember I love you" Steve declared to the love of his life, he took one last look at Bucky and vanished just before Shuri appeared. She looked around the room, she was sure she could hear a voice however, there was no one present in the room. Shrugging if off, Shuri walked over to the monitors and started work.

~6 Months Later~

Steve reappeared in the time he has slowly becoming use to. He had just returned from a complicated mission and all he wanted was food, a shower then his bed. Unfortunately, the Ancient One was already in his room.

"Mission was a success" Steve answered as he flopped down onto his bed.

"Good. I will be leaving for Karmar-Taj tonight. This will be the last time we will see each other. Doctor Strange will appear soon enough, he is meant to be the best of us all and I must be there to meet him. I have looked into the future to see what man Strange is meant to become but I cannot see it. I will not see what Strange will become. I need you to keep managing the time line, I have created a list of points in the timeline that must be protected. Good luck, I am sure that you will be able to return to your love ones soon enough" The Ancient one explained her upcoming demise.

"I understand, I'll try and stay out of Doctor Strange and this upcoming battle's way. Goodbye Ancient One. Thank you for everything you have done for me. I was not worth your kindness and guidance" Steve replied taking the list from the Ancient One.

"Goodbye Mr Rogers-Barnes" The Ancient One said before exiting his room.

Steve stayed locked up in his room just like he promised the Ancient One, this was not his battle to fight. It was Doctor Strange and the others who vowed to protect the Time Stone and the sanctums. Word did not take long to travel around the three sanctums about the Ancient One's death. Steve sighed before picking up the list the Ancient One had given him. It would be easier to avoid this fight when he was not present in the time line. Steve quickly packed all his belonging into a small bag and disappeared back in time. He had work to do.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve was sure that the Ancient One had been lying to him when she had informed him of her upcoming death. She had said that he would be returning to his loved ones soon yet the points in time he had to protect had kept him away for a further 15 years. It had been 40 long years since he left 2023 with his mission to return to stones and he still had gods know how long until he will be able to return. Steve had tried to stop himself counting how many days it has been since he left his Bucky, yet it felt impossible. He had left Bucky probably believing him that he had stayed in the past and wouldn't return. He couldn't return the way Sam, Bucky and Bruce were expecting because the device and the suit had been destroyed the second he had stayed in the past to prevent the technology being used to change the timeline. The missions had been completed and there were no time aberrations which Steve could sense. The timeline was still on track to lead to Thanos. A face Steve knew he was going to have to face soon enough. Every time which the infinity stones had come into counter with had been ensured off. Thanos was the only one left.

"I have not seen you before" a voice said from behind Steve. He had returned to the New York Sanctum for a rest before going to Thanos. Steve quickly glamoured himself as he turned to face the voice. As suspected it was Doctor Strange, the time stone around his neck.

"I have been away" Steve replied whilst internally flinching, the sound of his own voice sounded unrecognisable glamoured.

"You are shielding your appearance from me. I can tell" Doctor Strange stated, his eyes looked Steve over suspiciously.

"I cannot allow you to see me as who I am. The Ancient One gave me a mission to protect the timeline from aberrations which were appearing. I had to put everything back on course. The Ancient One last order was to continue with my mission yet keep everything classified from others to prevent changes to the timeline. By ordering the mission kept classified, my identity must to remain a secret. I am only telling you this because I know you understand the importance of maintaining our reality no matter what the consequence are" Steve briefly explained. Doctor Strange was quiet for a moment, he seemed to be weighing up the different option of what he could reply with, he could push and demand for more answers which Steve couldn't give him, or he could leave the conversation where it was. Strange chose the latter.

"I understand. The timeline protection is important. I would not want to be the reason of it changing, after all, if you tell me what you know then what you worked hard for will not happen" Doctor Strange answered.

"I am glad you understand, I only plan to stay for tonight. My mission is nearly complete. If I survive I might be able to tell you about it, so you may fully understand the consequence" Steve promised.

"Then I will look forward to that meeting. Good Luck with your mission" Doctor Strange before leaving. Steve sighed, he felt old. The serum prevents him from aging which made him effectively immortal. Steve suspected that it would be the same for Bucky as well which made the life he was living a little better with the idea that he would always have Bucky, yet he didn't want Bucky to feel that the serum had trapped them in this immortal life. Steve had to force himself to stop thinking. He was tired and if this thinking kept going he would end up with a headache and not enough sleep to deal with Thanos.

* * *

"I had done it Father, I have located all the infinity stones expect one however I know how I can find it for you. I have a plan for you to achieve all these stones Father if you would listen to it" Steve said walking over to Thanos who was sitting on his chair.

"Continue my child" Thanos answered.

"The Power stone is on Xandar, I believe that it would be best for you to retrieve this stone first because the Space Stone is with the Asgardians who have fled their world after it was destroyed. After collecting the power stone, you would have enough power to attack and kill half of the Asgardian's population. The reality stone is in Nowhere with The Collector. Two stones are down on Earth, so I suggest after getting the Space stone you should send some of your children to Earth, the mind stone is with the Vision, one of the avengers whilst the time stone is at New York Sanctum being guarded by Masters of the Mystic Arts. To get the Soul Stone you must persuade Gamora to tell you where it is. Nebula and Gamora have recently become close, I'm sure if you used Nebula then Gamora would be happy to tell you the location" Steve explained, it took all the strength he had to prevent him from throwing up. He caused all of this. He essentially wiped out half of the universe.

"Well done my child, you have succeeded in our mission. I will follow through with your plan. We must ready the fleet. We will head to Xandar immediately" Thanos ordered.

"I will not fail you father" Steve answered before hurrying off to inform the Black Order of the plan. Steve felt strange being back on Thanos ship, the Black Order were preparing for battle whilst Steve informed the pilot to take them to Xandar. Steve's own ship was having a quick maintenance after the years it had spent shrunken. He doubts there were any issues because it was shrunken using the Pym Particles and Ant-man suit spent most of the time small and never had any major issues.

* * *

Steve followed Thanos as the attack on Xandar began, his mission was to retrieve the power stone and bring it back to Thanos after that they would decimate the planet and head towards the Asgardian refugee ship. From Steve's memories, he remembered that Rocket told him that the infinity stone had been safely secured in the vault of the Nova Corps Headquarters, originally believing that it would be too risky trying to gain the stone from the Nova Corps they had decided to head to Morag where it originally was kept. Retrieving the stone from the Nova Corps was far to easy then Steve expected. He guessed it was up to the Super Soldier Serum and the training he had with Thanos which helped him the most.

Steve pulled the orb containing the stone from the vault and walked back through the little of unconscious bodies which lined the floor. Thanos was waiting for him outside the headquarters. Steve didn't say anything. He just threw the orb over the Thanos whilst Ebony Maw spoke about being humble and something to do with grandeur. Steve didn't listen, he just wanted this all to end. Thanos ordered his army to kill half of the population before heading back to the ship. Steve remained quiet.

* * *

The journey to the Asgardian Refugee ship was long, Asgard and Xandar were nowhere near each other.

Steve walked through the bodies of fallen Asgardians, he had just returned from releasing the ship to allow those fortunate few which survived to an escape and head to Earth. Those who had fallen only few were still alive, yet the Black Order were slowly making their way around the room killing those alive one by one. Steve couldn't look at Thor who was being tortured by the power stone to make Loki turn over the Tesseract.

"The Tesseract was destroyed when Asgard was" Thor said but Thanos continued to look at Loki who eventually gave up the Tesseract. Steve kept to the back, the further away he was no one would see the horror of watching his friend's people die.

"Your optimism is misplaced Asgardian" Thanos said which caused Loki to faulter.

"Well first, I'm not Asgardian and for another we have a hulk" Loki said quickly dropping the Tesseract and tackled Thor out the way of the raging Hulk. Steve watched with baited breath as the Hulk and Thanos fought but eventually Thanos triumphed. Steve heard one of the Asgardian's whispering something just before the Bifrost appeared and took the Hulk away. The Asgardian died shortly after, Thor screamed in agony as Thanos was bestowed the Tesseract shattering it to pieces revealing the stone.

"There are two more stones on Earth, find them my children and bring them to me on Titan. Normad stay with me" Thanos ordered. Just before Loki attacked. The snap of Loki's neck will forever haunt Steve's dreams along with the muffled cry from Thor. It hurt watching his friend's pain and being unable to do anything about it. Thanos used the power stone to destroy the ship after they had evacuated from it. The children of Thanos headed to Earth whilst Steve and Thanos headed to Nowhere to claim the reality stone and Gamora.

* * *

Steve and Thanos watched in the distance as Gamora and her team fought against the vision Thanos had set up. Steve couldn't believe that Gamora would cry over Thanos' death, he would have thought she would be relieved after everything he did to her. Steve watched as Gamora begged for Peter to kill her, his failure and then Gamora, Steve and Thanos were back on Thanos' ship.

"Father I am going to help my brothers to claim the stones on Earth. If these Avengers have stopped Loki in the past, my siblings are going to need all the support they can get. We will see you on Titan after you have reclaimed the Soul Stone" Steve informed Thanos before heading towards his ship and headed towards Earth. Steve's mission was almost complete.

* * *

Steve stayed hidden most of the fight. There were no individuals who were Masters of the Mystic Arts present which prevents him from being found. He felt the portal open before he saw Thanos. Steve quickly glamoured his appearance to his usual shoulder-length red hair which had become easier to glamour since he had decided to keep his normal blonde hair at shoulders length. Steve jumped down from his hiding place.

"Father the stone is over there, they are trying to destroy it" Steve told Thanos who nodded and headed in the direction Steve had pointed in. Steve quickly regained his hiding and observation spot where he watched as the stone was destroyed by Wanda for the actions to be undone by Thanos. Vision was dead once more before he could fully understand what was happening. Thor attack but he could not stop it. Thanos snapped before opening a portal and disappeared.

Steve heart broke when he watched Bucky turn to dust once more. He never saw the others the first time around but from the view he had he could see everyone who died from the snap slowly disappearing. Steve jumped down and approached Thanos who appeared beside him.

"You have succeeded father" Steve said.

"We can finally relax my child. Meet me on Planet 0269-S, we will finally relax" Thanos ordered before using the space stone and disappearing. Steve dropped the disguise he knew no one would find him out here. They would all be shell shocked from losing. Losing everyone they cared about. Steve sighed.

"It's time" Steve whispered. His plan which had taken years to slowly put together would finally become reality. His mission was nearly up. He hoped that it wouldn't take much longer until he can finally be reunited with Bucky, his Bucky. Steve turned and walked away from the battlefield towards his ship. He would have to wait until nightfall to start his plan after all he doesn't want those to interfere and unintentionally change the timeline that he has worked so hard to preserve.


	8. Chapter 8

Bucky watched as Steve stood up on the platform, the case containing the infinity stones in one hand with Mjolnir in the other. Bucky's heart was pounding in his chest at the thought that he would never see his Steve again. Bucky knew that Steve was going to stay in the past and live the life he had always wanted with Peggy. Bucky's feelings didn't matter because Steve would get his happily ever after. Bruce fired up the time machine and Steve disappeared.

"How long will it take until he is back?" Sam asked, Bucky silently wished that he had Sam ignorance towards Steve's true intent.

"It can be hours for him, but it will be about 5 seconds for us" Bruce answered. It felt like years had passed as Bruce counted down from five.

"Bringing him back now" Bruce said but Steve didn't appear just as Bucky predicted, Steve decided to stay with Peggy. Bucky looked down at the floor as Sam and Bruce started panicking. He didn't want them to watch as his heart shattered into pieces. Bucky slowly turned around expected to see an older version of Steve sitting on the bench waiting for them however, it was empty. Bucky started to internally panic. Steve should be here. He had to be.

Bucky's internal turmoil was halted at the sound of an engine, Sam and Bruce seemed to here the noise as well because they stopped messing around with the quantum machine and looked upwards where a large ship hovered above the lake. The noise caught the attention of those in the cabin because they start to slowly pour out. The ship landed in front of them and Bucky saw a panicked look appear on Nebula's face. She immediately pulled her weapons out preparing to fight. Bucky, Sam and Bruce walked over to the others, their eyes were trained on the ship. No one knew what to expect.

The ship door opened, and a ramp descended. A figure appeared at the entrance of the door.

"Steve" Bucky muttered as Steve started descending from the ship. Bucky couldn't believe what he saw. Steve's blonde hair was shoulder-length, his normal blue eyes were brown. Steve wore a long-sleeved black sweatshirt with combat trousers and boots.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to take the long way around" Steve said once he reached the others. His eyes were trained on his Bucky. He was finally home.

"How did you commandeer Normad's ship. He would never allow someone to use it" Nebula demanded before anyone could question what Steve had said.

"That's a really long story but to be quick about it. I am the Normad" Steve answered. Bucky saw the Guardians take a step back, a shocked and scared look appeared on their faces. Bucky wanted to question it but all he could focus on was his Stevie came back to him. He was older that was obvious but still he came back to him. Bucky couldn't force himself to stay where he was any longer. He ran over to Steve wrapping the other man up in his arms.

"I thought I lost you" Bucky whispered into Steve's ear.

"You could never lose me Bucky. I am with you until the end of the line. I will never leave you again" Steve whispered back.

"You better you punk. Look at you, you look so different. Not that I'm not digging the long hair but what happened to your eyes" Bucky asked, Steve smiled before pressing a light kiss to Bucky's forehead.

"That's apart of the long story as well" Steve answered before stepping back a little to face the others, his arm kept secure around Bucky's waist. Steve scanned his surroundings, a frown appeared on his face when he noticed something was missing.

"Oi, are you coming out or are you staying hidden" Steve shouted back up to his ship which confused everyone. Steve was the only person missing, they weren't expecting anyone else.

"Sorry, we didn't want to ruin your moment" a familiar female voice said. Natasha and Vision appeared at the entrance of the ship before making their way down.

"Nat" "Vis" Clint and Wanda shouted simultaneously before running over to them.

"How" Bruce whispered shocked before looking over at Steve for an explanation.

"I have had plenty of time to think about what I needed to do before returning and I knew I had to bring back at least some of the ones who deserved saving. Vision was destroyed for the mind stone and Nat died for the Soul stone. I had to rectify some of those mistakes. I got Vision's body after the snap happened and I bargained for Natasha to be returned with the Red Skull which was an interesting conversation. I took Vision to an experienced android technician to get him revived, they used to stone to bring Vision back. However, Shuri would you be able to look over to make sure Vision is alright, the technician never worked with vibranium before because it doesn't really exist in space" Steve explained.

"Of course" Shuri agreed.

"How did you get the mind stone?" Wanda questioned.

"That's a part of the long story I mention earlier" Steve answered.

"Well you better get started" Natasha teased, only Vision and Nat truly knew the extent of what Steve had been through the last 45 years.

"We better go inside. It's a 45-year worth story. I'll cut it down to the important parts though" Steve answered before moving towards the cabin with Bucky still by his side.

"45 years?" Bucky questioned.

"Yeah, that's how long I have been gone for" Steve answered.


	9. Chapter 9

Steve waited until everyone was settled to start explaining the story. Bucky hadn't left his side which Steve was grateful about though he was worried that Bucky as well as the rest of his friends would be horrified with what he had to do. The guardians and Nebula were aware of the Normad's reputation whilst Steve was sure that the others had figured out that whatever the Normad was. It wasn't good.

"About 45 years ago for me and around five minutes ago for you, I set out to return the infinity stones to the point in time which they were taken, and I succeeded however, by removing the stones. Time started splintering and the stones were not in the places that they should have been which was making the outcome worse. I had to ensure the stones remained on this timeline by making sure they were in the right places and forms at the right time" Steve stared to explain before he was interrupted by Doctor Strange.

"These time splinters how bad were they?" Strange asked.

"The Emperor Nero got his hand on the tesseract and once he discovered what it was capable of he wanted to use it to expand the Roman Empire by throwing those who were not apart of the roman empire into space. Anyway, because I had to ensure that the stones were following the right timeline I became the cause to most of what happened. For example, Jane discovering the Aether or Thanos getting his hands on the mind stone, the first time around" Steve continued before Nebula interrupted him.

"How are you Normad? He had red hair, but the eyes are the same" Nebula questioned.

"The time stone was the last infinity stone I had to return. I kept it in case I had some issues. The Ancient One was the person who told me about having to protect the timeline, I learnt how to protect myself using the Mystic Arts which allowed me to glamour my appearance whenever I was in the past to prevent people from recognising me in the future. When I was with Thanos I glamoured my hair red and my eyes brown which is why they are brown now. Nebula you remember what happened" Steve explained, a shudder passed down his spine as he remembers how he lost his eyes.

"What happened?" Rhodey asked curiously.

"Like I said I was the cause of everything in our timeline which happened with the infinity stones. I had to make sure Thanos got the stones to wipe out half the universe, so the remaining avengers would bring them back this meant I had to prove to Thanos I was loyal to him. I fought for his cause and gave him the plans for Loki and the collection of the stones later on. During one of the fights about six months into living with Thanos I lost both my eyes" Steve explained.

"How?" Peter Quill asked.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Steve queried.

"You have been through a lot Steve, if you don't want us to know then we will understand" Wanda said to reassure Steve that he wouldn't be forced to explain anything he didn't want to.

"It's not that I don't want to it's more…" Steve started but was interrupted by Nebula.

"Normad Barnes had his eyes ripped out".

"Gruesome" Steve whispered. The room fell silent. Everyone's eyes were filled with horror as they looked at Steve.

"I thought the Normad was born with cybernetic eyes" Quill suddenly said, Steve snapped his head to look at Quill before turning to face Nebula.

"You and Rocket were right. He is an idiot" Steve said. Nebula nodded.

"Normad Barnes was found when he presented Thanos with the Mind Stone. He pled his allegiance and proved his loyalty many times during battle. He became one of the most feared assassins in the galaxy along with my sister. When Normad lost his eyes, he proved that he didn't need eyes to complete his mission he still killed all the enemies which were approaching him. After the battle was complete my father rewards Normad with some cybernetic eyes" Nebula explained.

"Okay, so you had to follow the time line. How? From what you are suggesting you had to travel through time. You wouldn't have had much Pym particles to do this constantly" Pepper asked, Steve looked over at Pepper.

"After I learnt how to use the mystic arts. I had the essence of the time stone fused which allowed me to travel back and forwards in time" Steve answered.

"Prove it" Carol spoke up. Steve locked eyes with her for a brief second before closing his eyes and started focusing a point in time. The green aura appeared around Steve then he disappeared. The others didn't have long to compensate what happened before Steve reappeared holding a cat.

"Goose" Carol said as the cat jumped out of Steve's hands and walked over to Captain Marvel.

"I had to make that flerken sick up the tesseract, that I would say was the worse experience out of everything" Steve said as he lent back onto the sofa. He saw all the guardians and Nebula tense up at the word flerken.

"You never explained how you saved Vision stone?" Bucky spoke up for the first time.

"After the first snap I met Thanos at The Garden and was able to trick him into believing that he had destroyed all six infinity stone instead of just three. I save the time, soul and mind stone. Which reminds me I should return this to you Strange" Steve answered before willing the time stone out of the pocket dimension he had hidden it in and levitated it over to Doctor strange. Doctor Strange took the stone and returned into the Eye of Agamotto before Steve stood up.

"What I have told you is a lot, so I'm going to leave and let you take everything in. If you need me I'll be in my ship" Steve said before leaving the cabin, he needed to allow everyone to talk about what he said without him being present.

Steve walked up the ramp and headed towards the storage area of the ship where he kept his vibranium shield. He had no use for it during his time away and he didn't feel like Captain America anymore after everything he had done. Steve knew it was time to retire. To live a normal life with Bucky which was away from the fighting. Steve was trapped in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone step into the room until they spoke.

"So, this your spaceship Steve" Bucky said drawing the other man's attention.

"Yep, what are you doing here? I thought the conversation about what I have done would have lasted longer" Steve answered.

"It's still going on. Everyone understands what you did. They knew you didn't have any choice. You had to protect our timeline. It's just when you were talking it got me thinking. Did you ever visit me?" Bucky asked. Steve sighed, he had expected Bucky to ask him, but he had thought he would have a little more time to prepare himself.

"I did. On three separate occasions" Steve replied.

"Which were?" Bucky pushed.

"The first time was not long after I had to give the Red Skull the location of the Tesseract which led to having to assassinate Erskine…" Steve started before trailing off.

"Oh my god, Stevie I'm so sorry you had to do that. I know how much Erskine meant to you" Bucky said cupping Steve's face with his hands.

"If Erskine hadn't died it was a threat to the future because HYDRA would have regained Erskine and forced him to give HYDRA the Super Soldier Serum formula which then allowed HYDRA to take over the world. I glamoured myself to look like Kruger and shot Erskine then destroyed the remainder of the serum to prevent this future happening. After I went forward in time but not by that much. It was during the war and I just appeared when you stumbled across me. You asked why I wasn't with Phillips and I told you that we were taking a break" Steve continued.

"You asked me whether you were worthy for the role and I told you that you were. I never got to question you on it because the next day I fell" Bucky answered.

"Yeah" Steve muttered.

"What was the second time?" Bucky asked.

"The second time was before the war. It was actually unintentional. I was in a bar drinking and you came over and started flirting with me. You took me by surprise that I accidently told you my real name and not a fake one…" Steve trailed off when he saw Bucky's eyes widen.

"I remember, I always though that Steve was a little strange but I guess you were so use to living in the modern day you forgot how to talk in the past. What was the last visit?" Bucky said.

"It was not long after you went back under after the fight with Tony. It had been about 25 years since I had felt. I told you about what I had been through. I also told you that…" Steve trailed off once against.

"Told me what?" Bucky asked.

"I told that I loved you" Steve confessed, Bucky's face broke out into a large smile before he pulled Steve's face close to his.

"I love you too" Bucky answered before pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss. Steve's hands clenched onto Bucky's shirt whilst he tried to push all the love he felt for Bucky into the kiss. The couple was distracted by each other they didn't notice the presence of someone else.

"Well I'm going to have nightmares now" Sam joked. Steve smiled against Bucky's lips before pulling away from his now boyfriend and turning to face his friend.

"Hey Sam" Steve said.

"I got to admit Rogers I wasn't expecting this mission to take 45 years. I'm kind of glad I didn't come I would have been old when we returned. Which makes me question how do you still look so young?" Sam questioned.

"The serum stopped me from aging" Steve answered. Sam nodded his eyes trailed over to the shield.

"So, what's Captain America going to do now he returned" Sam questioned.

"I don't know. What are you going to do Sam?" Steve contradicted. Sam froze, his head snapped over to look over at Steve shocked.

"What?" Sam muttered practically speechless.

"Over these long years I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do when I returned to my time. I knew I had to bring back Natasha and Vision. I wish I could have saved Tony but there was no way to save him from the radiation emitted by the stones. I decided I want to live my life as Steve Rogers and just Steve Rogers. I'm not Captain America, I haven't been ever since I dropped the shield in front of Tony at the HYDRA base. I want to finally live the life I missed out on when the world war started. I want to retire and live my life, but the world still needs Captain America. You deserve the shield Sam" Steve explained before grabbing the shield and handing it over to Sam.

"Steve I can't. This doesn't belong to me" Sam tried to protest, but Steve wasn't going to let that happen.

"It does not" it was Steve said.

"Take the shield Sam, you are not going to win the argument. Steve can be stubborn when he wants to be" Bucky stated. Sam sighed giving in.

"I'll make you proud. I promise" Sam promised.

"Sam you already have" Steve replied smiling. Sam look down at the shield once more before nodding.

"I leave you two alone" Sam answered and was out of the door before anything else could be said.

"So, what's the great Steve Rogers' plan now?" Bucky asked once Sam had left.

"I don't mind as long as I have you by my side" Steve replied before pressing another kiss to Bucky's lips.


	10. Epilogue

**Author's Note: Hey guys, so this story has finally reached an end. I have really enjoyed writing this and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this story. I want to thank Kateis_Cakeis (from Ao3 - What's A Photostatic Veil Between Friends?) who inspired this story, if you haven't checked it out the I advise that you do, it is a really good read. Anyway, enough of my waffling. I hope you enjoy the last chapter!**

* * *

~2 years later~

Two years ago, Steve Barnes née Rogers returned from a 45-year long mission where he had to protect the infinity stones. Following his return, he brought up the courage to confess his feelings to his long-time best friend Bucky Barnes who returned Steve's feelings. Steve retired giving up his shield to his other best friend Sam Wilson who had become a version of Captain America which Steve could have never been. Sam had proven he was worth the title of Captain America. Steve and Bucky had moved into Bucky's hut in Wakanda where they had spent time bonding with the locals whilst slowly learning Wakanda's native language Xhosa.

6 months ago, Bucky and Steve had finally gotten married through a mixture of American and Wakandan traditions. Steve had expressed his desire to take Bucky's last name as his own. Steve felt after all his years in the past he had more of a connection towards the last name then towards his own. Even on side missions that didn't involve Thanos, Steve still went by the name Normad Barnes which only contributed to Steve's assassin reputation. Bucky however, believed that Steve might had chosen Barnes as his last name to spite the Ancient One who seemed to always know about his future so before she died she had called him Mr Rogers-Barnes, a reference to his future marriage to Bucky. Steve would deny it to this day.

The sun was blazing in the sky, Steve was sat outside the hut focusing on fixing his cybernetic eye which seemed to be glitching. His back was to the hut.

"So, this is where you got to?" Bucky said as he walked out of their hut and over to his husband.

"Yeah, my eye was glitching, so I thought I should take a look. It's nothing serious just a loose wire" Steve said turning to face Bucky who subconsciously flinched when he saw Steve's vacant eye socket.

"What do you want to do for your upcoming birthday? Is there anything you really want to do?" Steve asked changing the subject from his eyes, he knew it was going to take a while until Bucky was used to seeing them after all Steve had to physically remove the cybernetic eyes from his eye sockets to make repairs to them which looked usual compared to Bucky missing an arm. Steve quickly fixed his one eye before turning away from Bucky and gently sliding the eye back into his socket. Once Steve was satisfied with it working correctly he turned back to face his husband.

"I really don't mind, as long as you are there?" Bucky answered, truth to be told Bucky had an idea about what he wanted to do for his birthday, but he wasn't completely sure whether Steve would be okay with it. Steve seemed to have settle in Wakanda and had never expressed a desire to do anything outside of Wakanda. The only time either Bucky or Steve had left safely of the Wakanda's barrier was whenever the Avengers were in need of some tactical advice, Steve and Bucky had declared they were finished with fighting however, they didn't mind advising or poking fun at Sam on occasion.

"Well is there some place you want to go to? Hawaii? Devon? Australia? Where haven't you been that you really like to go to? I'll go anywhere you want to?" Steve questioned. Bucky didn't answer straight away. Where did he want to go? They hardly left Wakanda but they deserve a break from everything. Steve's space ship caught his attention. It was parked beside the hut, most of the time Steve kept it small to prevent the Wakanda's children from getting access to it and accidentally harming themselves on some of the dangerous weapons stored inside.

"Space" Bucky said after winning his internal debate, he couldn't lie after Steve returned from the past and Thor had left with the Guardians. Going into space had been a dream of Bucky's, but he hadn't said anything because he didn't want to force Steve to leave his friends behind after only just returning, but it had been two years now. Everyone's lives had finally gotten on track that they didn't need Steve or Bucky's help.

"What" Steve said surprised.

"I've been thinking ever since you came back that going into space would be amazing. When we were young it had always seemed like a fantasy but now it's a possibility. I mean we have a spaceship why not use it" Bucky explained a little nervous, he wasn't entirely sure how Steve might take it. A large grin broke out on Steve's face before he stood up and immediately wrapped his arms around Bucky's neck.

"Okay Mr Barnes, we have the whole of space and time at our fingertips. Where do you want to go?" Steve asked before quickly adding "The Roman Empire is out of bounds though".

Bucky laughed.

"Where ever and whenever Mr Barnes. As long as I have you by my side" Bucky answered before drawing his husband closer, so he could capture Steve's lips in a passionate kiss. Steve returned the kiss with the same ferocity. He couldn't believe that after all these years, he was finally home.

**The End**


End file.
